NYC offers a better lifestyle than the valley, for sure. Suburbia is not fun. SF is much much better because it’s an actual city, but still doesn’t match NYC in terms of fun. If you want to optimize for fun, you do not live in Mountain View or Palo Alto. Period.

If you want to optimize for surrounding yourself with awesome, experience people at the center of the tech industry––both employees and mentors––live in the SF Bay.
Two mistakes I’ve seen people make are:1) failing to cultivate mentors. 2) not going to the mountains.If you don’t leverage the wealth of experience and professional resources that’s here in the valley, you’re gonna wonder why the hell you’re here. If you don’t go to the mountains and experience the insanely awesome California outdoors (hello, Tahoe!), you’re gonna be stuck with a second rate city, or worse yet, Westechester-esque suburbia.

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